A Connecticut man charged with threatening a state judge in emails he sent to six acquaintances last year is hoping a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling bolsters his effort to get his case dismissed.

The case of Edward "Ted" Taupier of Cromwell is among the first in the country to cite the high court's June 1 decision, which threw out the conviction of Anthony Elonis, a Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, man prosecuted for making threats against his ex-wife and others on Facebook. At least 11 other legal cases have cited the ruling, according to the Westlaw legal research service.

Rachel Baird, Taupier's lawyer, said her client was just venting about Judge Elizabeth Bozzuto in his divorce and child custody case. She says when he sent the email last August to six fellow critics of the state's Family Court system he had no intention of actually harming the judge, who did not receive the message. Baird said Taupier's arrest violated his free speech rights.

But prosecutors said Taupier's comments were threatening and so disturbing that authorities had to arrest him and seize his guns. Taupier's email mentioned guns and how close a suitable shooting site was from the judge's bedroom.

Taupier waived his right to a jury trial and chose to have the case heard by Superior Court Judge David Gold in Middletown. The trial ended in May, and Baird filed a motion to dismiss the case based partially on the Supreme Court ruling and free speech arguments. Prosecutors have until Tuesday to respond to the motion to dismiss.

Anthony Elonis was convicted in 2011 by a federal jury of making threats...

A Lehigh Valley man who recently got a U.S. Supreme Court victory in his free speech case after four years in prison now faces trial in Northampton County on charges alleging he threw a metal pot at his girlfriend's mother.

Anthony Elonis was convicted in 2011 by a federal jury of making threats...

(Pamela Lehman)

"Whatever speech is alleged that Mr. Taupier engaged in is protected under the First Amendment," Baird said. "Holding him criminally liable for the speech violates his rights."

The prosecutor in the case, Assistant State's Attorney Brenda Hans, declined to comment.

The Supreme Court case involved Elonis, of Freemansburg, in eastern Pennsylvania. He was prosecuted under a law that makes it a crime to threaten another person after he posted Facebook rants in the form of rap lyrics about killing his estranged wife, harming law enforcement officials and shooting up a school.

The ruling was a narrow victory for civil liberties groups that had urged the court to make it tougher to convict people who make crude comments on social media that might be viewed as threatening.

The court, however, dodged free speech issues and declined to lay out broad constitutional protections for such comments. The case instead centered on proof standards.

Chief Justice John Roberts said it was not enough for prosecutors to show that Elonis' comments would make a reasonable person feel threatened. But the high court sent the case back to the lower court without clarifying exactly what the standard of proof should be.

Roberts said the reasonable-person standard is "inconsistent with the conventional requirement for criminal conduct — awareness of some wrongdoing."

Baird said the prosecution of Taupier conflicts with the Supreme Court's ruling, which she said requires prosecutors to prove criminal intent.

In the email at issue, Taupier wrote about how Bozzuto's bedroom is 245 yards from a cemetery "that provides cover and concealment." He then talks generally about how a certain rifle fires at 250 yards from a target, then adds, "unless you sleep with level 3 body armor or live on the ISS (International Space Station) you should be careful of actions."

Taupier also wrote: "They can steal my kids from my cold dead bleeding cordite filled fists … as my 60 round mag falls to the floor and I'm dying as … I change out to the next 30 (round mag)."